Angry Uber users are still waiting for their accounts to be removed following the fiasco that led to #DeleteUber.
On Sunday Uber decided to suspend surge pricing during a taxi protest against President Donald Trump‘s immigration ban, which many felt was a means of undermining the protesters’ efforts. They then decided to target their social media ads to people who follow the American Civil Liberties Union with the tagline, “Standing up for what’s right.”
Some users decided to go a step beyond uninstalling the Uber app, and deleted their accounts altogether.
At least they thought they did.
A number of folks are complaining on Twitter that the ride-hailing company won’t let them do so.
Why is it that I said I wanted my Uber account deleted and it still exists even though I said DELETE?
— V.V. (Sugi) Ganeshananthan (@V_V_G) January 31, 2017
That’s because the company had to install a new automated system capable of handling the huge number of requests. In the past, orders to delete an Uber account were manually handled on a one-by-one basis.
But #DeleteUber was simply too much to deal with.
The new protocol is to let an automated responder send an email to anyone who requests to have their account deleted. From there, users simply need to re-enter their password to complete the deletion process. This is to prevent fraudsters from going on an account-deleting rampage, the company told us.
“Anyone who requested that their account be deleted will have their account deleted, and reports to the contrary are false,” an Uber spokesperson told the Daily Dot. “Over the weekend we implemented a new automated process to handle an increased volume of requests and implemented a password check, a security best practice to avoid abuse and fraud.”
Despite the more efficient system, some users have been waiting for more than a day to receive the email.
https://twitter.com/BPKaro/status/826540670286303232
And others are getting error messages, which appear to stem from Uber thinking those accounts are linked with a driver’s account.
https://twitter.com/madsfranklin/status/826555129931264000
The necessity to build out an entirely new system for requests indicates the full impact of #DeleteUber is yet to be seen. What we do know is that Uber’s longtime rival Lyft appears to be reaping the benefits.
